As accounting trainees, you're not only grappling with complex concepts, a host of new jargon and dense formulae, but also balancing study with practical experience. When it comes to sitting your exams, there's so much to remember from your journey so far that it can feel like a struggle to retain it all.
Here, we’ll look at effective tools, techniques, and best practices to help you revise and study ahead of sitting for your qualifications to help you enter the room with confidence, ready to succeed.
Understanding the challenges
Whether you’re studying with the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) or the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT), the challenges remain similar. All of these exams demand a sound understanding of accounting principles, financial regulations, and ethical standards to show you’re ready for the day-to-day of accounting. When it comes to learning, the key difficulties include:
- Volume of Material: The sheer breadth of topics can be overwhelming.
- Complexity: Advanced accounting concepts require a high level of analytical thinking.
- Time Management: Balancing work commitments with study time is a common struggle.
- Stress and Pressure: The high stakes of these exams can lead to anxiety.
While this can feel daunting – after all, these exams are meant to be rigorous, it’s not just you – the right study and exam strategy can help you get to grips with the material in an effective, sustainable way.
Practical study tips
1. Create a Study Plan
With the amount of information in front of you, a structured study plan is essential. Trying to learn it all at once will likely just leave you feeling dispirited and swamped.
- Break down the syllabus into manageable sections and allocate specific times for each topic.
- Consider using tools like Gantt charts and study apps such as Trello or Asana to give you an actionable list of topics that you can tick off as you go – don’t dismiss the power of that little dopamine hit.
- Start with enough time to create a detailed timetable to manage your study sessions and ensure that all topics are covered in enough depth.
Tools such as the Pomodoro Technique, where you study for 25 minutes, then take a 5-minute break, and repeat can help break up your time. Working in shorter chunks helps maintain focus and prevent burnout during long study sessions.
2. Active Learning
Accounting is a practical industry – everything you’re learning could be something you apply in your day-to-day role. Take the same approach to your studying.
- Passive reading is less effective than active learning. Engage with the material through practice questions, flashcards, and mind maps.
- Regularly attempt past exam papers to get a feel for the types of questions you'll face.
- Active learning techniques like summarising information, asking questions, and teaching others help your brain actively work with the information you’ve learned rather than memorising it.
Most usefully, these techniques help you check your progress as you go, highlighting strengths and weaknesses.
3. Look beyond the books
Working with a range of materials can help you refresh your approach and keep your brain engaged.
There are various tools you can use to enhance your learning, online courses, webinars, or podcasts can supplement your studies. This can also help vary when and how you study – consider integrating podcasts while you do other activities, such as exercise – then try and summarise what you’ve heard.
Providers can help when it comes to casting a wider study net. ACCA Global, for example, recommends extensive online resources, including study guides, practice papers, and technical articles to help you switch it up.
4. Make the most of your peers
Studying can be an isolating activity if you spend all your time alone. That’s where joining or starting a study group can provide support, motivation and a platform for discussion.
- Sharing knowledge and tackling difficult topics as a group – even if it’s just a study buddy – can give you a new way to test your understanding and retention of information.
- Being part of a study group also helps in staying motivated and accountable.
- Working with peers gives you a chance to share strategies and breakthroughs, as well as getting new points of view on topics that just aren’t sticking.
This can be as simple as starting a Whatsapp group, to meeting up in person or online with tools like Zoom or Meetings to discuss in person. Consider each preparing a topic to test your own knowledge and provide a chance to help others understand subjects from a new point of view.
How to prepare for the exams
1. Simulate exam conditions
The environment in the exam room can be as challenging as the material itself. That’s why it helps to get familiar with what you’ll be experiencing before you get there.
- Practising under exam conditions can help you get to grips with managing your time and reduce anxiety when it comes to the big day(s).
- Set aside time to complete full-length exams without interruptions. Trying it early helps you get used to the pressure.
Practising with past papers and setting exam conditions at home, such as silence and a timer, can give you a good idea of how the exam itself will feel.
2. Review and reflect
After each study session, take time to review what you've learned. Think about areas where you need further clarification and revisit those topics. Reviewing your work helps reinforce your memory and ensures that you retain the information longer.
Regularly reviewing your notes and using techniques like mind maps and flashcards can be a great way to reflect on your understanding of key concepts.
3. Stay organised
Whether you’re working on paper or digital, it’s important to keep your study materials organised in a way that helps you work, rather than getting in the way.
- Use binders, digital folders, and note-taking apps to ensure you can easily access and review your notes.
- An organised study environment helps you find the information you need when you need it, while also reducing barriers to actually sitting down and studying.
- Avoid the dreaded wall of text and notes – flourishes such as colour-coding, using highlighters and creating visually appealing notes can help you prioritise and focus on key information.
4. Don’t forget your health and wellbeing
Study can be all-engrossing – but don’t let it distract you from the basic needs of your body and brain.
- Don’t forget your sleep: Don’t rack up too many late nights. Adequate rest is crucial for memory and concentration.
- Eat for your brain: What you consume has a significant effect on your brain and focus (check out our guide here).
- Exercise more than just your mind: Getting up for a walk, a run or something more social can help reset your brain and reduce stress.
Sticking out the journey
Becoming a qualified accountant is a marathon, not a sprint. The effort you put in now will help carry you forward throughout your career – focus on your goals and remind yourself why you embarked on this journey.
Remember that it's normal to feel stressed and overwhelmed at times – you’re only human. Allow yourself breaks and downtime to recharge, as well as recognising your efforts and understanding that it's okay to take time for yourself.
Good luck to all of those sitting exams this year. Stay dedicated, organised, and positive. If you don’t pass the first time, don’t worry, keep trying and look at ways to improve your study and revision techniques. You’ve got this.
